Carolina Rivers Nursing and Rehabilitation Center is celebrating the life and longevity of two of its oldest residents.

Louise Fountain Koonce, 105, and Vallie Rhodes Williams, 100, share more than just a residence at the facility. Not only do they have a common love for bingo, Activities Director Catherine Wilde said that the two ladies have great personalities and a history and share a similar childhood growing up in farming families in Richlands.

“Vallie told me a few weeks ago she wanted a husband,” Wilde said. “Both of them are very active in bingo.”

The residents were recently honored with a special dinners on their birthday with community friends and family attending.

Koonce was one of two children born to Sallie and Peter Fountain on June 19, 1907 in the small Richands community of Petersburg, named after her father. Sallie was previously married to William Jenkins and had four children.

“She’s the oldest in the family and we're very proud of her,” her great nephew Bobby Miller said. Miller, who lives in Fayetteville, and his sister Linda Miller of Jacksonville share responsibility for her needs.

“She was all dressed up and smiling the whole time for her birthday,” Miller said. “I wanted to see a smile on her face and they did that.”

In 1925, she married Bishop Arthur Koonce, the vice moderator of Baptist General Conference, a 33rd degree Mason and pastor of numerous churches. Koonce was a long time treasurer for Bloominghill Free Will Baptist Church and one of the founding members of The Order of Eastern Star Chapter in the Richlands community. Miller said that his aunt, who was also known as “Doobie,” was a great at gardening, quilt making and taking care of children. Koonce only had one child, who died shortly after birth.

“Aunt Doobie was always good with children and she helped raised me when my mother was working,” Miller said. “I would always tell people I had two mothers.”

Williams was one of 10 children born to Addie and Jule Rhodes on July 15, 1912. Although horse and buggy was the primary mode of transportation, Williams said they were blessed to have it to maintain their daily lives on the farm.

“We raised sugar cane, cotton, corn and beans,” Williams said. “We were raised wealthy, and two of us made it to college. Everything we asked our father for, he worked hard and got it for us.”

Williams received her education in a one-room school up to seventh grade. She married Ivy Williams in 1930 and the couple had five children before divorcing in 1944. As a single mother, Williams made her living as a housekeeper before starting her career as a nurse.

“I just chose to be a nurse, I liked to helped people and I decided I wanted to be one,” Williams said.

Page 2 of 2 - Her daughter Joyce Crowder said that she attended nursing school in Philadelphia and served as a laundry attendant on Camp Lejeune before she was hired at Onslow Memorial Hospital.

“They had separate wards for black and whites back then,” Crowder said. “She was the first black nurse at Onslow. She started off a housekeeper and they found out she was a good worker and they used her in the operating room.”

In 1972, Williams moved to Washington D.C. to work as a home nurse to help her son Ellwood through college Tennessee State 1976. She moved back to the area four years later.

“She always worked anywhere she could get a job,” Crowder said.

After Williams moved back to the area and retired, she became a member St. Julia A.M.E. Zion Church before becoming a resident at Carolina Rivers last year. Williams attributes her longevity to a healthy lifestyle and good decisions.

“I just live right, I don’t drink liquor or anything,” Williams said. “I just live a good life.”

Although Koonce has lost sight in both eyes and is losing her hearing, Miller said that quality healthcare has allowed her to become one of the oldest residents in the area.

“The Carolina Rivers facility has been a contributing factor to her turning 105 years old and the doctors and nurses,” Miller said. “That home has done great job and they do good work for her.”